‘American Sniper,’ ‘Boyhood,’ ‘Birdman’ among winners of AFI Awards 2014

The feature films “American Sniper,” “Boyhood” and “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” and the TV series “Fargo” and “Mad Men” were among the recipients Monday of the American Film Institute’s AFI Awards 2014 for outstanding film and television.

The awards honored 11 films and 10 TV programs “deemed culturally and artistically representative of the year’s most significant achievements in the art of the moving image.” This year marks the first time the AFI Awards have selected 11 movies as outstanding.

“We celebrate these films and television programs as more than just milestones in a year of excellence,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO in a statement Monday afternoon. “They are a part of our American cultural heritage -- collectively, a new chapter in the story of the art form and of our nation.”

Rounding out the AFI list of movies of the year are “Foxcatcher”; “The Imitation Game”; “Interstellar”; “Into the Woods”; “Nightcrawler”; “Selma”; “Unbroken” and “Whiplash.”

Besides “Fargo” and “Mad Men,” AFI TV honors went to “The Americans”; “Game of Thrones”; “How to Get Away With Murder”; “Jane the Virgin”; “The Knick”; “Orange Is the New Black”; “Silicon Valley” and “Transparent.”

The selections are made through an AFI jury process consisting of AFI trustees, scholars, film and television artists and critics.

The awards will be handed out at a private, invitation-only luncheon on Jan. 9.